The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing highly heat-resistant relief structures by applying radiation-sensitive soluble polymer precursor stages in the form of a layer or a foil on a substrate; irradiating the layer or the foil through negative patterns with actinic light or by deflecting a light, electron or ion beam; removing the non-irradiated layer or foil portions and, optionally, subsequently annealing, as well as to the use of relief structures prepared in this manner.
A method of the type mentioned for manufacturing relief structures on the basis of polymers is known from German Pat. No. 2 308 830 and its corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 3,957,512. According to this method, polyaddition or polycondensation products of polyfunctional carbocyclic or heterocyclic compounds, carrying radiation-sensitive radicals, with diamines, diisocyanates, bis-acid chlorides or dicarboxylic acids are used as the soluble polymer precursor stages. The compounds which carry radiation-sensitive radicals contain two carboxyl, carboxylic-acid chloride, amino, isocyanate or hydroxyl groups suitable for addition or condensation reactions and radiation-reactive groups bound to carboxyl groups in ester-fashion partially in ortho- or peri-position thereto. The diamines, bis-acid chlorides and dicarboxylic acids to be reacted with these compounds have at least one cyclic structure element.
The soluble polymer precursor stages are cross-linked when irradiated and change in the process into insoluble intermediate products. These intermediate products are subjected, when being annealed, to a cyclizing process, whereby highly heat-resistant polymers of the following classes of materials are formed: polyimides, polyamidimides, poly-1,3-quinazoline-2,6-diones, polyisoindoloquinazoline diones, poly-1,3-oxazine-6-ones and polybenz-1,3-oxazine-2,4-diones.